Twitter the New CNN

When you’re in PR you have one eye or ear on the news while conducting work for clients. It’s tricky but I suppose it’s a good thing I’m a multi-tasker.

Using social media has made it even easier for me to keep up on the news. I literally get all my headlines on Twitter and click to read the stories I want to read. In fact, my Twitter account looks like a CNN ticker of latest news. And…the best part of it is that I can see how people react and comment on the breaking stories.

That’s why I found this so interesting – sent by @GuyKawaski on Twitter.

Twitter isn’t a social network anymore

Can I say, “I told you so?” Lance Ulanoff reports that “Twitter Is the New CNN.” He summarized a study done by Haewoon Kwak, Changhyun Lee, Hosung Park, and Sue Moon from the Department of Computer Science, KAIST (Korea). This is a presentation of the results of the study:

Staying on top of the news is key for my business, for obvious reasons. When I see something relative to a client I can easily craft a follow up story pitch idea and send it out immediately – while it’s still timely. More importantly, I can keep up on media and what stories they’re working on. In PR this is huge! I don’t have to read every site every day (which could be a full-time job in and of itself!).

If you’re looking to achieve PR, follow the news outlets and blogs that target your customers/audience and interact with them. Not only can you improve odds of catching a journalist’s attention, you can also listen to what people on Twitter are saying about your industry online. It’s brilliant!

We’ve already had great success in achieving media coverage for clients through….Twitter! It does take time to build relationships – like any you might build in life, but it pays off. Yes, we continue to take a traditional approach to media, but today Twitter is where news is happening and….breaking.

Follow me @SmallBizPRXpert or @MyStorySource